Michael Rodrigues (born August 31, 1982) is a retired elite acrobatic gymnast who now performs in the

Cirque du Soleil Cirque du Soleil (, ; "Circus of the Sun" or "Sun Circus") is a Canadian entertainment company and the largest contemporary circus producer in the world. Located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul on 16 Ju ...

show ''Viva ELVIS'' in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

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, along with his former mixed-pairs partner, retired elite acrobatic gymnast Kristin Allen. Allen and Rodrigues won the gold medal in the mixed-pair all-around at the 2010

Acrobatic Gymnastics World Championships The Acrobatic Gymnastics World Championships are the World Championships for acrobatic gymnastics Acrobatic gymnastics is a competitive gymnastic discipline where partnerships of gymnasts work together and perform figures consisting of acrobat ...

Wrocław Wrocław (; german: Breslau, or . ; Silesian German: ''Brassel'') is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the River Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, rou ...

, Poland. They also won the all-around title at 2010 U.S. National

Acrobatic Gymnastics Acrobatic gymnastics is a competitive gymnastic discipline where partnerships of gymnasts work together and perform figures consisting of acrobatic moves, dance and tumbling, set to music. There are three types of routines; a 'balance' routine ...

Championships in

Kissimmee, Florida Kissimmee ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Osceola County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 79,226. It is a Principal City of the Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, Florida, Metropolitan Statistical Area, wh ...

, placing first in the all-around, dynamic and balance. They became the first U.S. athletes to win the mixed-pairs gold medal at the

2009 World Games The 2009 World Games () the eighth edition of the World Games, were an international multi-sport event held in Kaohsiung, Taiwan (under the name Chinese Taipei) from 16 July 2009 to 26 July 2009. The games featured sports that are not contested i ...

Kaohsiung Kaohsiung City (Mandarin Chinese: ; Wade–Giles: ''Kao¹-hsiung²;'' Pinyin: ''Gāoxióng'') is a special municipality located in southern Taiwan. It ranges from the coastal urban center to the rural Yushan Range with an area of . Kaohsi ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

, which are considered the equivalent of the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

for acrobatic gymnastics. At the 2009 Acro Cup in

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, Germany, the pair placed first in dynamic and second in the all-around and in balance. The previous year, Rodrigues and Allen won the mixed-pair all-around silver medal at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

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, Scotland. At the 2008 National Championships and Junior Olympics Nationals in

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, the pair won the all-around, dynamic and balance.) Allen and Rodrigues trained together at West Coast Training Center in

Livermore, California Livermore (formerly Livermorès, Livermore Ranch, and Nottingham) is a city in Alameda County, California. With a 2020 population of 87,955, Livermore is the most populous city in the Tri-Valley. It is located on the eastern edge of Californ ...

, with coach Marie Annonson. The pair became partners in August 2007. Rodrigues was a member of the U.S. Senior National Team from 200 to 2011, and Allen was a member of the U.S. Senior National Team from 2006 to 2011. Prior to competing with Allen, Rodrigues was the base of an elite mixed pair with now-retired acrobatic gymnast Clare Brunson, and they trained together at Empire AcroGymnastics in

Riverside, California Riverside is a city in and the county seat of Riverside County, California, United States, in the Inland Empire metropolitan area. It is named for its location beside the Santa Ana River. It is the most populous city in the Inland Empire an ...

and Mission Hills Gymnastics, also in Riverside. The pair were trained by Russian coach Youri Vorobyev, who is now owner and head acrobatics coach of Realis Gymnastics Academy in Moreno Valley, California. In 2006, Michael Rodrigues and Clare Brunson won the mixed-pair all-around bronze medal at the 2006 World Championships in

Coimbra Coimbra (, also , , or ) is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2011 census was 143,397, in an area of . The fourth-largest urban area in Portugal after Lisbon, Porto Metropolitan Area, Porto, and Bra ...

, Portugal, and were designated World Class Gymnasts by the Federation of International Gymnastics (FIG). They also won the all-around silver medal at the 2006 World Cup in

Puurs Puurs () is a former municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. It is located in the Flemish Region. The municipality comprised the towns of Breendonk, Liezele, , Ruisbroek (old spelling: ''Ruysbroeck'') and Puurs proper. There is ...

, Belgium. In 2005, Rodrigues and Brunson placed fourth all-around at the 2005 World Games in

Duisburg Duisburg () is a city in the Ruhr metropolitan area of the western German state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Lying on the confluence of the Rhine and the Ruhr rivers in the center of the Rhine-Ruhr Region, Duisburg is the 5th largest city in Nor ...

, Germany.

References

External links

Rodrigues and Allen Balance Routine

Cirque du Soleil Feature

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodrigues, Michael 1982 births Living people American acrobatic gymnasts People from Livermore, California Sportspeople from Alameda County, California World Games gold medalists for the United States World Games medalists in gymnastics Male acrobatic gymnasts Medalists at the Acrobatic Gymnastics World Championships Medalists at the 2009 World Games